Calling on all noobs and not so noobs!

Ok, i'm a noob and a tea addict I've been lurking in this forum for the past three weeks and like dbradley said this seemed the best thread for my first post.

Now let's get to my answers

How long have you been drinking tea?Since I was two, according to my mother. Unfortunately I discovered the joys of loose leaf tea only four years ago, which means I've been using tea bags for 18 of my (almost) 24 years...regrettable, isn't it?

What was your first Tea?My first serious tea was a Steinthal second flush darjeeling, followed two days later by a gunpowder (Twinings). I knew I had discovered a new world and just couldn't wait to explore it all, after four years I'm still exploring and learning, and it's awesome.

What is your favorite Tea currently?Fuji Yama from Mariage freres, but I intend to deepen my knowledge of Japanese teas

What is your next purchase?I still have to decide if I want a Kyusu or a Yixing, but I think the kyusu will come first.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?Definitely my parents kitchen in the dead of night, when the house is finally silent and I can read and drink tea quietly

How long have you been drinking tea?Started drinking tea regularly around maybe 8 or 9. Teabag tea with milk. Over the next few years I started drinking loose leaf teas and drank both milky tea bag tea and loose tea on it's own. Things became more serious when I wandered into a recently opened Chinese tea room with over 20 grades of long jing. The owner had quite a selection of teas but her love and passion for long jing ingited something in me. From then on tea became part of the household budget.

What was your first Tea?Probably a Tetly teabag with milk and sugar at a very young ageWhat is your favorite Tea currently?Not too sure, maybe da hong paoWhat is your next purchase?Again not too sure, possibly an order of oolong and pu from Essence of TeaWhere is your favorite spot to brew up?I love brewing tea in front of my tea tray in the front room on my little stool with some friends.Best ever was probably gong fu brewing some of Stephane Erler's Taiwan oolong on a scortching hot saturday afternoon in the middle of the stone circle, in the heart of Glastonbury, with the festival in full swing.

How long have you been drinking tea?All my life (I'm 65! Oh, you all probably mean other than Lipton etc, Okay, I've been dabbling for a few years now. Mostly with specialty teas in the market and at Peet's.

What was your first Tea?You're kidding here, right?

What is your favorite Tea currently?My favorite so far is Zen, a product from Tazo. I'll have a question about that later.

What is your next purchase?That depends upon the answer I get to a question I'll ask later. All the samples (black) that came with my ingenuitea brewer are great.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?Standing at my counter, daydreaming and waiting patiently for my timer to go "ping".That was easy! Now for my eagerly anticipated query;I quite like the Tazo Zen I'm drinking right now, but it's bags. I do prefer loose teas, so I'd like to begin my new expreience with something close to that. I'm not looking for "much better", rather similar so I can compare for myself.The ingredients say;Green TeaLemon VerbenaSpearmint LeavesLemongrassand Natural Flavors.If i should ask this in another forum, please direct me.Thank you very much, now I'm off to do some reading around here.George

How long have you been drinking tea?Like a lot of you, since I was a kid. I've been an on and off tea drinker all my life but have really picked up the daily habit this last year.

What was your first Tea?My grandmother is a serious anglophile; I have early memories of her making "children's tea" for me - which was mostly milk with a little tea - not sure what variety. Oddly enough, it was roobios that got me into looseleaf abou 5 years ago (I know, thats not TEA tea).

What is your favorite Tea currently?Probably some you hua xiang dan cong I got recently - its tough to choose though.

What is your next purchase?I need to get some good basic oriental beauty - thats my classic daily tea.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?Outside in my garden - sitting by the firepit, brewing gongfu

How long have you been drinking tea?when i was young i used to drink english tea with milk and sugar... afterwards i started drinking tea and coffee without anything and recently i discovered all this very interesting tea culture and i like it

What was your first Tea?english tea... but the first tea of my new tea life was a silver needle chinese white tea

What is your favorite Tea currently?i like diversity, i like to drink one type of tea then another, they are so differents... i really like the raw pu-erh samples i have but my stomach isn't that fond of this type of tea unfortunatly.... i really enjoy anxi oolong like teas and top grade white teas

How long have you been drinking tea?I've been drinking tea for about five years now, loose tea for about six months.

What was your first Tea?My first tea was a black Lipton tea, of unknown quality... Then I spent a few summers making wild teas out of cattail, bergamot, (Straight) wild ginger, wild mustard, red clover, oxe-eye daisy, and sassafrass. My first actual loose leaf tea was Jasmine Dragon Pearl, and the first that I liked was Silver Needle.

What is your favorite Tea currently?AH! So many to choose form. I really like Lapsang Souchong, and I'm also impartial to Gyokuro. I found a peach sencha in a local shop I am currently in love with.

What is your next purchase?Likely a full cast iron set, after tasting the difference between Golden Monkey in cast iron vs. an easy tea steeper, There's no way I can't have one of these anymore.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?Right now, my kitchen and at work are the only places I brew tea, but I would love nothing else than to brew tea on a campout, in the middle of the woods.

I have been browsing this forum for about two months or so now and I am glad I found this place. I figured it was time to participate in a more active manner.

You all have helped me a lot on my way to becoming more knowledgable about tea. I can't imagine how many hours of trial & error it would have taken me to make tea properly if I hadn't come across TeaChat.

On the other hand, my wallet would most likely be a lot heavier since you guys have made me spend a lot of money on tea and teaware. And it's not like there's an end to the spending in sight

However, while certainly making it easier to prepare tea well, beautiful teaware definitely makes the experience much more enjoyable.

I will post some pictures of my teaware, like my kyusu and first Hagi pieces in the appropriate topics as soon as I have some good pictures.

So as not to leave you guys completely clueless as to who I am, I will say that I am a 26-year-old male student from Germany.

How long have you been drinking tea?Disregarding tea bags and herbal infusions, I have been drinking loose leaf tea regularly for about 6 months now. I feel like I am at the beginning of a long journey and have much exploration and many discoveries ahead of me.

What was your first Tea?First ever tea was probably an Earl Grey tea bag about twelve-ish years ago, which I enjoyed at the time.

What is your favorite Tea currently?I would have to say my favorite tea right now is Sencha. I can't narrow it down to a specific type of Sencha as there is so much left to try.I like light steamed to deep steamed and haven't found anything that I dislike at all yet in the realm of Sencha.

What is your next purchase?Teawise I will most likely buy O-Cha's Yutaka Midori soon as many of you seem to like this tea a lot.I might also try my first Matcha soon.As far as teaware goes, I fell in love with Hagi ever since I saw the "showoff" thread here. So there will be a lot of Hagi-yaki purchases in my future.

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?Well, I mostly have tea at my desk when I'm studying. I also like to drink tea while reading, so near my bed or the couch is also a place I enjoy having tea.

How long have you been drinking tea?I don't remember when I first had tea, but the first time I had loose leaf tea was in June shortly before my wedding.What was your first Tea?My first loose leaf was sencha from the tearoom I visit weekly (it's kind of far away so I don't make the trip as often as I would like).What is your favorite Tea currently?Currently I am really liking my bai hao yin zhen and jun shan yin zhen. Though I am a huge fan of greens (both Chinese and Japanese).What is your next purchase?I am not sure what my next purchase will be. I am currently going through a sampler of sheng pu'ers and I might be buying up a cake or two of the ones I like.Where is your favorite spot to brew up?I usually make my tea in the kitchen of my apartment, but I love to make tea with friends and family nearby to share it with.

Well, first post might as well be here How long have you been drinking tea?I've been drinking tea for as long as I remember, but only recently have I started pursuing better quality teas.

What was your first Tea?Living in the south, probably a generic sweet black tea

What is your favorite Tea currently?I've developed this love for Silver Needle after a few tastes, I keep buying it from different vendors in search of the ultimate cup of it

What is your next purchase?I'm going to be ordering a few samples from Samovar (in particular some Marsala Chai, Silver Needle, and Earl Grey. It's so hard for me to find good Earl Grey with a nice Bergamot flavor and less vanilla flavor!)

Where is your favorite spot to brew up?I enjoy brewing a pot and sitting on my back porch and doing some homework. Makes it go by much faster and keep me focused